USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee, from 1833 to 1875, their times and their contemporaries > Part 28
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"I shall in no degree feel humbled by being cast into prison whenever it is the will of this august Government to put me there, but, on the contrary, I shall feel proud of my confinement. I shall go to jail, as John Rodgers went to the stake, for my PRINCIPLES. I shall go because I have failed to recognize the
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hand of God in the work of breaking up the American Gov- ernment, and the inauguration of the most wicked, cruel, un- natural, and uncalled-for war ever recorded in history. I go because I have refused to laud to the skies the acts of tyranny, usurpation and oppression inflicted on the people of East Ten- nessee, because of their devotion to the Constitution and the laws of the Government, handed down to them by their Fathers, and the liberties secured to them by a war of seven long years of gloom, poverty, and trial. I repeat, I am proud of my position, and of my principles, and shall leave them to my children as a legacy far more valuable than a princely fortune, had I the latter to bestow.
"With me life has lost some of its energy-having passed six annual posts on the western slope of half a century -- some- thing of the fire of youth is exhausted, but I stand forth with the eloquence and energy of right to sustain and stimulate me in the maintenance of my principles.
"I will only say, in conclusion,-for I am not allowed the privilege to write,-that the people of this country have been unaccustomed to such wrongs, they can yet scarcely realize them. They are astounded for the time being with the quick succes- sion of outrages that have come to them, and they stand horror- stricken, like men expecting ruin and annihilation. I may not live to see the day, but thousands of my readers will, when the people of this once prosperous country, will see that they are marching by 'double quick time' from freedom to bondage. They will then look these wanton outrages upon right and liberty full in the face, and my prediction is that they will 'stir the stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.' Wrongs less wanton and outrageous precipitated the French Revolution. Citizens cast into dungeons without charges of crime against them, and without the formalities of a trial by a jury ; private property confiscated at the beck of those in power; the press humbled, muzzled, and suppressed, or prostituted to serve the ends of tyranny. The crimes of Louis XVI fell short of all this, and yet he lost his head. The people of this country, down-trodden and oppressed, still have the resolution of their illustrious forefathers who asserted their rights at Lexington and Bunker Hill."
It would be hard to find in all history a more defiant, a more lofty, or a more eloquent utterance than the foregoing.
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Never in all his varied and stormy career did the soul of this man flash out with such sublime courage. Well and nobly did he say that he would leave his "principles" a legacy to his children, "far more valuable than a princely fortune."
Thus Mr. Brownlow, in the last number of his paper, pro- claimed his love of the Union and his hatred of secession. With his last words, he hurled his haughty defiance at the Southern Confederacy. To add force and significance to his denuncia- tion, and in bitter mockery and derision, he reproduced the two previous articles, which had given such deep offense, and had driven the insurgent leaders at whom they were aimed to the very verge of madness.
Long after Johnson, Maynard, and Carter were safe in the North; long after Nelson had yielded and urged others to yield ; after Baxter had yielded and become a candidate for the Confederate Congress; after Trigg had gone North, and all others had become silent, and not a voice was heard in all the State or in the wide Confederacy, Mr. Brownlow was still heard defiantly pleading for the Union, and uttering the hope of disaster to the Confederate arms. At last, yielding to over- whelming necessity, he mournfully said that "one man alone could not fight the whole Southern Confederacy." Never did mortal make a more heroic fight. And so strong was he, so terrible to his enemies, that to the very last men were afraid to lay their hands on him.
Two or three nights after the last issuance of his paper, I bade a mournful farewell to him at his own house, and saw him ride off on horseback in the darkness, on his way to Ken- tucky, an exile and a wanderer. He had concluded that not only was his personal liberty in danger, but his life also. In truth his life was in peril every hour. It has always been amazing to me that he escaped unharmed.
Mr. Brownlow was accompanied on his proposed trip by John Williams, Andrew Knott, and by James H. Morris. The latter was subsequently killed as a Union soldier in the battle of Murfreesboro. His plan was to travel at night by unfre- quented ways, and pass through some of the gaps in the moun- tains North of Knoxville, and thus escape into Kentucky, thence to the Federal lines at Camp Dick Robinson. But after making one night's journey, and going some distance into Anderson County, they had reliable information that the passes in the
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mountains were so carefully guarded by Confederate Cavalry, that it would be almost impossible to get through without arrest. So in view of this threatening danger, he and his party re- turned home. But few persons, perhaps not a half dozen out- side of his own family, knew at the time, or perhaps ever knew, that he had been out of town.
But something had to be done. His enemies were determined on his destruction. Every hour he was in peril. No doubt he would have been killed before this time but for two things. First, he had influential friends among the Confederates who could be relied on to give him notice of danger. Second, his most in- veterate enemies were afraid to allow him to be murdered, even if they had been disposed to get rid of him in that way. So great was his popularity with the Union men, that it was feared that his death by violence, would be followed by out- breaks and retaliation all over the country. And such no doubt would have been the case. Troublesome and dangerous as Mr. Brownlow was as an editor, there were few men who were so depraved or unwise as to wish him disposed of in a foul man- ner. The consequences were too serious for such a thought. Much as he was detested by many persons, no one of any stand- ing or character in Knoxville would have countenanced any violence to his person, much less his assassination. But in times of revolution there are always desperate men thrown to the surface of society. His danger was from this source.
After the abortive attempt to escape into Kentucky and his return to his home, Mr. Brownlow determined to seek shelter in the recesses of the Smoky Mountains, which separate Ten- nessee from North Carolina. Accordingly on November 5, 1861, he again left home, and made his way to one of the secluded coves in these great mountains, where he knew he could find shelter and protection among the warm-hearted, loyal moun- taineers. And so he did.
On the morning of November 9th, the country was startled by the news that the night before, armed men had attempted to burn all the important railroad bridges on the East Tennessee & Georgia, on the East Tennessee & Virginia, and on the Memphis & Charleston Railroads, between Bridgeport, Ala., and the Virginia line at Bristol. The two first named were in effect one line, 240 miles long, connecting Virginia with the South and the Southwest. The attempt to destroy the bridges on these roads
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was successful as to those over the Hiwassee, over Lick Creek, over the Watauga and as to two over Chickamauga creek on the Atlantic & Western road .*
The destruction of these bridges had the approval of Mr. Lincoln, General Mcclellan, and General George H. Thomas. The latter, with a few thousand men, had advanced as far as London, Ky., near the border of Tennessee, and intended at the critical moment to lead his army across the line, at Cumberland Gap, and break up all communications by this line between the Confederate armies in Virginia and the South and the South- west. Men were already on their way to East Tennessee, or were selected in the vicinity of the different bridges, to execute the plan of burning the bridges on a certain designated night. When it was too late to change the time, or countermand the orders, General Sherman, for reasons explained elsewhere, ordered General Thomas to retrace his steps. Thus the con- templated advance into East Tennessee was abandoned. It was then too late to notify the men who had been selected to destroy the bridges.
As Mr. Brownlow was known to have been away from home at the time the bridges were burned, he was very naturally suspected of having some agency in or knowledge of the matter. The next day or night a squad of Confederate soldiers from Knoxville was sent out to hunt him up. But Mrs. Brownlow, his faithful wife, learning of this design, got two friends to carry the news to her husband that soldiers had been sent to arrest him. One of these was Mr. William Rule, then a young printer in Brownlow's office, afterwards a brave Captain in the Federal Army, and at this time (1899) Mayor of Knoxville, and for many years past the able editor of the Knoxville Journal and Tribune. These men crossed the Tennessee River in a canoe, after nightfall, slipped by the sentinels (for the town was then under martial law), procured horses on the other side from Mr. Caleb Baker, a wealthy farmer and an ardent Union man, and slipped in ahead of the squad of soldiers, and rode with all speed to the place where Mr. Brownlow was then concealed-a distance of forty-five or fifty miles. He had preached in Sevierville on the day preceding the night of the bridge burning, not knowing what was about to happen. On re-
*"See "East Tennessee and the Civil War," by the author, for an account of the bridge burnings, chap. XVII, p. 266.
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ceiving notice of the new danger which beset him, he at once retreated some fifteen miles into the midst of the mountains, where for the time being he found shelter and security among the brave mountain people.
After remaining in the mountains about twenty days he quietly returned by night to within six miles of Knoxville, where he again concealed himself. While in the last retreat he received the following letter :
HEADQUARTERS,
KNOXVILLE, TENN., December 4, 1861. W. G. BROWNLOW, EsQ. :
The Major General commanding directs me to say that upon calling at his headquarters within twenty-four hours you can get a passport to go into Kentucky, accompanied by a military escort, the route to be des- ignated by General Crittenden.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. S. CUNNINGHAM, Acting Adjutant General.
This letter was caused by one from Hon. Judah P. Ben- jamin, Secretary of War at Richmond, addressed to Gen- eral George B. Crittenden, who had succeeded General Zolli- coffer in command at Knoxville. Mr. Benjamin's letter was procured by the representations, or through the influence of Mr. John Baxter, at that time in Richmond, who applied to the Secretary of War in behalf of Mr. Brownlow. In his letter, Mr. Benjamin said: "I cannot give him [Brownlow ] a formal pass, though I would greatly prefer seeing him on the other side of our lines, as an avowed enemy. I wish, however, to say that I would be glad to learn that he has left Tennessee. * *"
Within the twenty-four hours specified in the letter of Gen- eral Crittenden, Mr. Brownlow reported in person to General Crittenden at his headquarters. A renewal of the promise was again made by him. December 7th was fixed as the day for starting, or two days afterward. Before the time arrived, Mr. Brownlow was arrested by the Confederate Marshal, on a warrant issued by Robert B. Reynolds, a Confederate Com- missioner, sued out by J. C. Ramsey, Confederate States Dis- trict Attorney, charging him with the crime of treason "in publishing a weekly and tri-weekly paper, known as Brownlow's Knoxville Whig."
On being arrested Mr. Brownlow sent a note to General Crit- tenden, claiming his protection, on the ground that he had
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come in on his promise that he should be sent through the lines. This note was answered the next day, after Mr. Brownlow had spent one night in jail, by one "Harry I. Thornton, A. D. C." saying: He [General Crittenden ] does not consider that you are here upon his invitation in such manner as to claim his protection from an investigation by the civil authorities of the charges against you, which he clearly understood fron yourself and your friends you would not seek to avoid."
Now, there was not one word in General Crittenden's letter of December 4th, about "an investigation by the civil authori- ties of charges" against him. It was a simple promise that he should "have a passport to go into Kentucky." The arrest and detention afterward for trial by the civil authorities were a gross violation of the plighted faith of General Crittenden. Gladly would I believe, as I do incline to believe, that he was at that time unfit for duty by reason of his habits, and there- fore not fully responsible for this wrong. Whatever may have been the words used by Mr. Brownlow, the spirit of the whole negotiation was that by appearing at headquarters with- in a certain time he should have a passport and an escort to Kentucky. Upon that understanding he came in from his con- cealment, and surrendered himself to the military authorities.
Mr. Benjamin, the Confederate Secretary of War, seems to have been heartily ashamed of this whole transaction. In a letter dated December 22, 1861, addressed to J. C. Ramsey, in an effort to defend the honor of the Government, he said, among other things :
"If Brownlow had been in our hands, we might not have accepted his proposition, but deeming it better to have him as an open enemy on the other side of the lines, authority was given to General Crittenden to assure him of protection across the border if he came into Knoxville.
"Better that any, the most dangerous enemy, however criminal, should escape, than that the honor and good faith of the Government be impugned or suspected * * but every- one must see that Brownlow would be safe and at large, if he had not supposed that his reliance on the promise made him would insure his safe departure from East Tennessee."
Whatever may be thought of the acts and words of Mr. Ben- jamin on other occasions, these words certainly reflect high credit on his sense of honor.
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The day Mr. Brownlow was arrested, Mr. John Williams and I hunted up J. C. Ramsey, the Confederate States Dis- trict Attorney, and offered to make a good bond in the sum of one hundred thousand dollars as security for Mr. Brownlow to keep him out of jail. Ramsey refused the bond, and Mr. Brownlow was at once sent to jail, where he remained from December 6th until the 30th. He was then released, to be immediately rearrested by an officer on a military charge. After this time, as he was very sick, he was permitted to remain in his own home under the guard of armed soldiers. His release from jail was due to the remonstrance and the noble instincts of Dr. Frank A. Ramsey, Medical Director of the Confederate Army at Knoxville-a big-hearted, good man. While he was in prison, I visited him once or oftener, and can bear witness to the horrible condition of the jail in which he was confined. It was filthy, and without a single feature to relieve it from the fitting application of the strongest epithets. It was crowded to suffocation, with not a single comfort. There a great number of the best men in East Tennessee were crowded together for no crimes except being Union men, or being suspected of hav- ing had some connection with or knowledge of the late bridge- burning. Well do I remember the Rev. Elijah Cate-tall and remarkable in appearance, with the weight of seventy years resting on him, his head white as snow-who, it was said, was put in prison for cheering the Stars and Stripes as they were borne by his house by some men on horseback.
Well might the faithful old servant of God burst forth into rapturous cheers, in that hour of darkness and despair, at the sight, once more, of the dear old flag of the Union, the emblem of freedom, now supplanted by a foreign banner. I can well imagine the good old man as he espied horsemen approaching along the banks of the French Broad, at early dawn, strain- ing his aged eyes as he dimly caught a glimpse of an object not seen for many a long day, bursting out in joy, and ex- claiming in his exaltation :
"What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected, now shines o'er the stream ; 'Tis the star-spangled banner ! O, long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave !"
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The very hills and trees might have clapped their hands for joy at this sight.
Mr. Brownlow was sick and naturally restless, like a caged lion in his confinement. He sighed for the freedom of speech, and for the freedom of an untrammeled press, in which to utter his burning thoughts. His great desire was to get North, where his untamed spirit could have that scope and vent for free speech, which he had exercised with such wonderful effect for thirty years in the mountains of East Tennessee. By his confinement in the crowded and loathsome prison, and his ex- posure in his wanderings, his wonderful constitution was broken down, his nervous system was destroyed and he became pre- maturely old and an invalid for the rest of his life. Fearing and believing that he was liable to be assassinated at any hour, and his friends sharing in this same fear and anxiety, in the month of February he determined to make one more effort to escape from his prison in his own house. Accordingly, through a friend a plan was matured for his escape to the Federal lines through the Cumberland Mountains. But in the meantime, on February 27th, Mr. Brownlow had appealed to Jefferson Davis for permission to be sent out of East Tennessee by way of Cumberland Gap or Nashville, as he had been assured he should be. On March 2d Mr. Benjamin granted this request and Major George H. Monsarret, a high-principled officer, command- ing the post at Knoxville, was directed to have that order ex- ecuted. Mr. Brownlow had been sick more than two months, but feeble as he was, he determined to start on March 3d. Ac- cordingly on that day he left his home on the train for Nashville, escorted by Lieutenant John W. O'Brien, a cousin of Mrs. Brownlow, and accompanied by James P. Brownlow, his son, and by Samuel A. Rodgers, one of his truest and best friends. These men were all selected by Mr. Brownlow himself. Colonel Casey Young, for a number of years, since the war, a member of Congress from Memphis, a Colonel in the Confederate Army, did all that he could to facilitate the departure of Mr. Brownlow.
It is due to Mr. Benjamin to say that throughout this whole transaction, in reference to Mr. Brownlow, he seems to have acted with a regard for honor and humanity. And this is certainly true also in regard to the conduct of Colonel Robert
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B. Vance and Major Monsarret, both of the Confederate Army.
At Loudon Mr. Brownlow was furnished ten armed men, as an escort, under the command of Captain Dill. At Athens some Confederate soldiers, on their return to the army from their homes, learning that Mr. Brownlow was on the west-bound train, made a rush for his car in a hostile spirit, but they were held at bay by the guard placed at each end of the car. At Wartrace, Middle Tennessee, they found General Hardee in command. He refused, on application, to grant a flag of truce, so as to permit the party to proceed. So, O'Brien and Rodgers were sent to Huntsville, Ala., to obtain the necessary authority from General Albert Sidney Johnston. That General issued the following order :
HEADQUARTERS CONFEDERATE DISTRICT,
HUNTSVILLE, March 7, 1862.
LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN,
Third Tennessee Regiment.
Sir : General A. S. Johnson, having just heard that you have brought W. G. Brownlow to Wartrace, as a prisoner, instructs you to return him to his home, or release him where he now is, as he may elect. Respectfully,
W. W. MACKALL.
Then General Crittenden was appealed to, and he granted the desired flag of truce. Finally, after a detention of ten days, the party was allowed to proceed, which it did in private con- veyances. The day of their departure was a most anxious one for the little party, now consisting of Mr. Brownlow, and his son, James P. Brownlow, Mr. Samuel A. Rodgers, and Lieu- tenant O'Brien. It was known that John Morgan's command was ranging around through that part of the country, and Mr. Brownlow naturally feared to fall in with it. The party drove rapidly over a good road toward Nashville. At length it reached the Federal pickets. Mr. Brownlow sat in his carriage, still sick and feeble, and "wrinkled and drawn up." At the sight of the Federals, said Mr. Rodgers afterward, "he seemed to swell out and his wrinkles to disappear." He straightened up and became himself again. Jumping to the ground he exclaimed : "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward all men, except a few hell-born and hell-bound rebels in Knoxville." Officers and soldiers, on hearing his name,
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gathered around him, and gave him a genuine soldiers' wel- come-such a welcome as men seldom receive.
What must have been his feelings in that hour of his deliver- ance! After five months of wandering, concealment, imprison- ment, suffering, and sickness ; of uncertainty, danger, and sicken- ing disappointment, but of courage and constancy never sur- passed, he was at last under the protection of the banner of his idolatry. Never did an eagle released from its cage exult more in its liberty than did this now unfettered hero of freedom. Pausing but a short time, they were again soon on their way, driving rapidly toward Nashville. It was still daytime when they reached that place. Stopping at a hotel, Mr. Brownlow, with his usual promptitude, at once hurried off to the capitol to meet his friends.
In the capitol a scene was witnessed such as is seldom beheld by men. Andrew Johnson, now 'Military Governor of the State, and Mr. Brownlow had been the bitterest of enemies. For nearly twenty-five years they had not spoken to each other. They had said more bitter, even terrible, things against each other than any two men in the land. Now they stood together on the side of a common country. They met in the presence of a common peril and a threatened overwhelming national calam- ity. Civil war had driven both of them from their families and their homes. Both were exiles and wanderers. They knew not that they should ever be permitted to return to their homes. At a moment when the very existence of their government was in extreme peril, they were drawn toward each other by a bond of common sympathy, common danger, and a common love of country. When, therefore, these two strong, brave men met, forgetting their past quarrels and hatred, they rushed in- to each other's arms, and wept like women .*
*On his return from Nashville, Mr. (now Judge) Rodgers, who was then and afterward my law partner, and always my faithful and trusted friend, related this incident to me. He did not witness it himself, but heard it at the time in such a reliable way as to leave no doubt of its truthfulness. Too much credit can never be given to him for his faithfulness to Mr. Brownlow during all his trials. He exposed his own life to the greatest dangers and endured great hardships in serving his friend. Nature has given to the world few as fine men as Judge Samuel A. Rodgers.
CHAPTER IV.
In the North-Published Book, May, 1862-Mrs. Brownlow and Mrs. Maynard Sent Beyond the Lines-Brownlow and Family Return to Knoxville, October, 1863-January 9, 1865, Meeting in Nashville- State Constitution Amended-Elected Governor-Ku-Klux-Bond Is- sues-Reconstructive Measures-Review of Secession Movement.
AFTER spending a few days in Nashville Mr. Brownlow pro- ceeded to Cincinnati, Chicago, Philadelphia, and other cities in the North, in each of which he delivered a lecture, giving an account of the condition of things in the South. In response to an almost universal demand for information in reference to the state of things in the insurrectionary States, and especially for an account of his own thrilling personal experiences in the Southern Confederacy, he began writing a book.
In May, 1862, two months after he left home, he had his book ready for the press. It was entitled "Sketches of the Rise, Progress, and Decline of Secession, with a Narrative of Personal Adventures Among the Rebels." The book contained 458 pages. The preparation of it shows the marvelous rapidity with which he worked. While he was writing it he was traveling from city to city, making speeches and being entertained, and was thus diverted from his work in every possible way. But he was at all times in life too earnest to lose much time in social entertain- ments. It is needless to say that wherever he went he was re- ceived with demonstrations of welcome and admiration such as are usually extended only to Presidents or to great victorious generals.
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